Big Egos and Small Mindsets..
When CFC was first set up in its original form, the lad who developed it was obsessed with making sure that there were no egos amongst any of the Trainers working there. I really liked this attitude and it reminded me of a book I read about the All Blacks, where one of their principles is:
- No Dick Heads
It’s something I’ve done my best to continue in CFC and I feel contributes to the community we have in there now.
When I was on the business course last week, below was the beginning was a mix of the internal dialogue I had at the start of one of the discussions/lectures:
PRESENTER: You’re stuck where you are because ego is too big and your mind-set is too small.
ME: (kicking back) I don’t think this presentation is for me. I hate egotistical people and just thinking of all the books I read and meditation I do I’m definitely not small minded. I might head to the beach for this presentation.
PRESENTER: You don’t think anyone can do the things you do better than you and you haven’t grown your mind-set actually build a team to do it better than yourself. Your mind-set is keeping you stuck like this to the point where you’re getting worn out, you’re the bottleneck in your own business and if you don’t take action on it soon it’ll be detrimental to your business and your health.
ME: I better stay for this presentation.
Thing is, I think so many of us have this affliction in some form or another – especially when it comes to fitness.
There is the example of the workaholic who won’t stick to a fitness regime because “they have to work so many hours.” I’ve seen some really blatant examples of this over the years. It reminds me of the scene in Jerry Maguire where when Jerry walks out of the company everyone keeps going and life goes on. If more people (myself included) realised that work life goes on they would look after themselves a lot better. Also looking at it clinically; if you’re fitter, healthier and not sick wouldn’t you be more productive anyway?
Or the mum/dad who won’t look after themselves because of time/money for the kids – and doing everything for them. I’m not a dad so can’t really comment but would have thought that letting kids fend for themselves a bit prepares them better for when mum and dad aren’t about. And again looking after yourself physically does help with the fact that you’ll actually be around a bit longer.
One form of egotism that is a head wreck for me is when I meet someone for the first time, they find out about CFC and then start telling me about how fit they were as teenagers. 20 years ago. Some people think that because they were in great shape back in the day it is just a case of doing a few laps of a football pitch and they will have their full hairline back, will be 10% body fat and could do a job on all Ireland final day. Doesn’t work like that, so if you’re someone that hasn’t been working out for a while, don’t let your ego get in the way and find someone to help you put some structure on your health regime.
Or another one that I’m glad we help people with a lot in CFC is the fear that you’re being judged in the gym. If you’re someone who suffers with this, just realise that people who are working out don’t really care about you and are probably/definitely not judging you.
If they are, they aren’t worth worrying about anyway.
Last one is the place you train. I’ve had conversations where people who work in certain jobs don’t realise I run CFC and said things like “there’s such and such missing in that place”. My response is usually that “it’s a place to come for training properly and get results, not fancy equipment.” It’s a mistake to think that the gym with the pool/Jacuzzi but without any character or soul will get you better results than the gym which has community, where everyone knows your name and takes results seriously. Thankfully the people in CFC build on the community and we never have problems with ego’s looking down at anyone in the place. Maybe it’s our lack of a Jacuzzi.
Or maybe it’s our obsession with that All Blacks rule..